Device to ruffle or pleat material

ABSTRACT

A device to ruffle or pleat material and feed the pleated material onto a supporting wire or needle. The material is pleated by a pair of gears spaced apart vertically on one shaft by a smaller diameter gear with the pair of gears meshing with a similar pair of gears on an adjacent shaft separated by a smaller diameter gear. A needle or wire support is positioned with its arrow pointed in between the teeth of the small gears in line with the axis of the gear supporting shafts. A roll of material to be pleated is supported on a vertical pin positioned substantially centrally of the gears and the end is held so as to be fed through the gears. The gears are driven by an electric motor connected by belts to one of the shafts. The gears can be swung to adjust them with respect to the end of the needle or supporting wire so that different length needles and wires may have the pleated material forced thereon.

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tates Patent Dalske et al.

DEVICE T0 RUFFLE 0R PLEAT MATERIAL Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin Attorney-Alexander B. Blair et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A device to ruffle or pleat material and feed the pleated material onto a supporting wire or needle. The material is pleated by a pair of gears spaced apart vertically on one shaft by a smaller diameter gear with the pair of gears meshing with a similar pair of gears on an adjacent shaft separated by a smaller diameter gear. A needle or wire support is positioned with its arrow pointed in between the teeth of the small gears in line with the axis of the gear supporting shafts. A roll of material to be pleated is supported on a vertical pin positioned substantially centrally of the gears and the end is held so as to be fed through the gears. The gears are driven by an electric motor connected by belts to one of the shafts. The gears can be swung to adjust them with respect to the end of the needle or supporting wire so that different length needles and wires may have the pleated material forced thereon.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SHEET 1 or 3 I F-zs L31 PAIENIEUucI 23 I973 PAIENTED I18! 23 I973 sum 2 OF 3 33 FIG. 3.

DEVICE TO RUFFLE OR PLEAT MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices for pleating or ruffling fabric and mounting the same on a supporting wire or needle.

2. Summary of the Invention A pair of gears are mounted on adjacent shafts in meshing relation and a second pair of gears of smaller diameter are mounted on the same shafts in contact with the first gears. A second pair of meshing gears are mounted on the shafts above the smaller diameter gears and in contact therewith. A needle or wire support is positioned with its pointed end in line with the axis of the shafts and arranged on a level between the smaller diameter gears. A- motor is belted to one of the shafts to drive the gears. A roll of fabric to be pleated is supported adjacent the gears and is fed therebetween being pleated by the gears and simultaneously forced onto the needle until the desired length of material is pleated onto the needle. The pleating gears can be adjusted toward and away from the needle support so as to properly align the pointed end of the needle with the axes of the shafts.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device for pleating or ruffling material and mounting same on a needle or wire support with the ruffles or pleats being uniform.

Other objects'and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in light of the attached drawings.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THEDRA-WINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line -33 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction of the arws FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the invention showing a I needle supported for a pleating operation;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 with a wire support supported fora pleating operation and with the apparatus adjusted for the shorter length of the wire; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, the reference numeral 10 indicates generally a pleating or ruffling device constructed in accordance with the invention.

The pleating or ruffling device 10 includes a generally-horizontal table 11 which is generally rectangular in form. The table 11 includes a bore 12 and a bore 13 extending therethrough to receive a shaft bolt 14. The shaft bolt 14 has a head 15 recessed into the table top 11. A pair of arcuate slots 16, 17 extend downwardly through the table 11 and have the center of their arcs axial with the bore 12. A second pair of arcuate slots l8, 19 extend through the table 11 and have the center of arcs axial with the bore 13. The slot 18 intersects the slot 16 and the slot 19 intersects the slot 17. An electric motor 20 is mounted on the underside of the table 11 with its axis equidistant from the axis of the bores 12, 13.

A frame 21 is positioned below the [table 11 and is mounted for pivotal movement on the shaft bolt 14. The frame 21 has an arm 22 extending laterally therefrom. A step pulley 23 is journalled on the shaft bolt 14 and maintained centrally in the frame 21 by bushings 24. A pulley 25 is fixed to the motor 20 and a V-belt 26 extends from the pulley 25 to the large pulley 27 of the step-pulley 23.

A pair of shaft bolts 28, 29 extend through the slots 18, 19 and through the frame 21 with the shaft bolt 28 having a pulley 30 secured thereto within the frame 21. The shaft bolt 28 is journalled in the frame 21 and turns with the pulley 30. A V-belt 31 is trained over the smaller pulley 32 of the step-pulley 23 and is trained over the pulley 30 so that when the motor 20 is operated the step-pulley 23 will be rotated and the shaft bolt 28 will be similarly rotated. An arbor 33 is secured to the arm 22 and extends upwardly therefrom well above the top of the table 11. A support pin 34 is mounted in a bore 35 in the table top 11 intermediate the arcuate slot 16, 17. The support pin 34 has a slot 36 formed therein for reasons to be assigned.

A lower gear 37 is positioned on and secured to the shaft bolt 28. An intermediate gear 38 is positioned on the shaft bolt 28 and has a diameter substantially less than the diameter of the gear 37. An upper gear 39 is mounted on the shaft bolt 28 and is secured thereto in contact with the smaller diameter gear 38. The gears 37, 39 have the same diameter. A gear 40 is mounted on the shaft bolt 29 having the same diameter as the gear 37 and meshing therewith. A gear 41 is mounted on the shaft bolt 29 in contact with the gear 40 and has a diameter equal to the diameter of the gear 38. A gear 42 is mounted on the shaft bolt 29 meshing with the gear 39 and in contact with the gear 41.

A wire support for the ruffles or pleats to be formed is illustrated at 43 having a loop 44 which is engaged about the pin 34. In FIG. 4 a needle 45 is illustrated supported in the slot 36 of the pin 34 with the point 46 of the needle 45 positioned intermediate the axes of the shafts 28, 29. In FIG. 5 a somewhat shorter wire support is illustrated at 47with its loop 48 surrounding the pin 34.

Material to be pleated is supported on the arbor 33 and usually consist of a roll of nylon netting indicated at 49.

In the use and operation of the invention when it is desired to pleat material onto a wire support 43 the wire support 43 has its loop 44 engaged over the pin 33 with its point 50 aligned with the axes of the shafts 28, 29 intermediate the gears 38, 41. The electric motor 20 is then energized and the netting is fed into the rotating gears 37, 38, 39 and 40, 41, 42 where individual ruffles or pleats are formed by the gears and fed onto the wire 43 which pierces the ruffles or pleats. When sufficient material has been fed onto the wire 43 to produce the desired number of rullfes or pleats the electric motor 20 is stopped, the material is cut and a retainer is placed on the end of the wire 43 to hold the pleated material thereon. The wire 43 can then be reversed to load the other end thereof. The wire 47 is similarly loaded except that the shaft bolt 14 is moved from the bore 13 to the bore 12 to permit the shafts 28, 29 to extend up through the slots 16, 17 instead of the slots 18,

19. ln FIG. 5 the arrangement for loading shorter wires 47 is clearly illustrated.

In some instances it is desired to form pleats or ruffles in the material and feed the material onto a thread. A thread 51 is threaded through the eye of a needle 45 with the needle 45 supported in the slot 36 of the pin 34 and its point 46 positioned intermediate the axes of the shafts 28, 29. In this position the needle 45 is loaded with pleats or ruffles and as in the case of the wire when sufficient pleats or ruffles have been loaded onto the needle 45 the material is cut and the needle is drawn through the material to leave the thread 51 holding the pleats or ruffles together.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A pleating or ruffling device comprising a pair of spaced parallel shafts, a pair of gears mounted on said shafts in meshing relation, a second pair of gears mounted on said shafts and having a diameter substantially smaller than said first pair of gears, a third pair of gears mounted on said shafts in meshing relation in contact with said second pair of gears and spaced from said first pair of gears by said second pair of gears, a rigid support for pleated material positioned with a pointed end in alignment with the axes of said shafts and on a level with said second pair of gears, and means for rotating said gears for pleating material therebetween and feeding the pleated material onto said rigid support.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 including a slotted table with said shafts extending through said slots for adjustment with respect to said table.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein means are provided for supporting said rigid support in position between said gears.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said gears are adjustable with respect to said support for said rigid support for loading rigid supports of varying lengths.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rigid support comprises an elongate needle. 

1. A pleating or ruffling device comprising a pair of spaced parallel shafts, a pair of gears mounted on said shafts in meshing relation, a second pair of gears mounted on said shafts and having a diameter substantially smaller than said first pair of gears, a third pair of gears mounted on said shafts in meshing relation in contact with said second pair of gears and spaced from said first pair of gears by said second pair of gears, a rigid support for pleated material positioned with a pointed end in alignment with the axes of said shafts and on a level with said second pair of gears, and means for rotating said gears for pleating material therebetween and feeding the pleated material onto said rigid support.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 including a slotted table with said shafts extending through said slots for adjustment with respect to said table.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein means are provided for supporting said rigid support in position between said gears.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said gears are adjustable with respect to said support for said rigid support for loading rigid supports of varying lengths.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rigid support comprises an elongate needle. 